The agreement includes broad development, licensing, sales, and marketing
components that will result in tight integration between Platinum's
corporate enterprise systems management tools and Intel's desktop
management software expertise.

Platinum's stock was up more than 10 percent on news of the deal in morning
trading. Platinum executives said the deal would have an immediate impact
on revenue for the company and could result in future OEM relationships
with third-party PC firms.

As part of the deal, Platinum will purchase Intel's LANDesk Configuration
Manager software code in order to add cross-platform capabilities to the
software tool. Intel, in turn, will make an equity investment in Platinum
of less than 5 percent, according to executives from both firms.

The two companies will also cross-license software technology and will
perform joint marketing and sales. Intel will license Platinum's Open
Enterprise Management Services (POEMS) integration technology for Intel's
LANDesk management software products. Results of the agreement are expected
to be released in the first half of the coming year.

Intel already has partnered with enterprise management software powerhouses
Computer Associates and IBM subsidiary Tivoli Systems, but executives from the
company said those relationships would continue and shied away from
addressing the competitive systems management landscape.

Frank Gill, executive vice president at Intel, said the company decided to
work with Platinum to add "an enterprise reach" for its tools. "That guided
us to Platinum," he said. "The more we got into it, the more it made sense."

Gill said Intel had no plans to acquire Platinum down the road.

Platinum's chief could barely contain his pleasure with the deal, in terms
of the competition. "We believe it is a watershed event," said Andrew
"Flip" Filipowski, chairman and CEO at Platinum. "I think this has put
Platinum in a very envious position in systems management."

Platinum makes a suite of software tools for large corporations called
ProVision that manages systems and databases.

Intel's LANDesk Configuration Manager is a tool that allows IT
administrators to define, deploy, and maintain multiple PC
configurations--including operating systems and applications--throughout an
organization. The package also allows administrators to integrate Network
PCs and other managed PCs into existing corporate networks.

Intel sells its LANDesk family of desktop management products through
resellers while Platinum sells directly to corporations, opening
opportunities for both companies, executives said.